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A Vaughn, Montana, livestock ranch owner pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to running a scheme to create, breed and sell giant sheep to be captive hunting facilities where they could ultimately be killed.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that 80-year-old Arthur “Jack” Schubarth pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and substantially violating it.
The Lacey Act prohibits the interstate trade of wildlife that has been taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of federal or state law, though it also prohibits the sale of wildlife that is falsely labeled. The law was created to combat wildlife tracking and to prevent the ecological invasion of injurious wildlife.
The DOJ said Schubarth is the owner and operator of a 215-acre alternative livestock ranch known as Schubarth Ranch, which engages in the purchase, breeding and sale of “alternative livestock,” like mountain goats and mountain sheep.
Arthur Schubarth is accused of illegally obtaining genetic material from wild Rock Mountain bighorn sheep. (David McNew/Getty Images)
Schubarth and the co-conspirators sometimes used MMK’s semen to impregnate other species of ewes artificially, to create hybrid animals. The species of ewes Schubarth and others would artificially impregnate were prohibited in Montana, according to the DOJ.
Schubarth had hoped to sell the larger, more valuable sheep to game ranches, mostly in Texas.
But to get past shipping the animals out of Montana, Schubarth and others allegedly forged inspection certificates from veterinarians and falsely claimed they were a permitted species. In other cases, Schubarth sold semen from MMK to sheep breeders in other states, the DOJ said.
He is also accused in court documents of illegally obtaining genetic material from Rock Mountain bighorn sheep in Montana.
“The kind of crime we uncovered here could threaten the integrity of our wildlife species in Montana,” Ron Howell, Chief of Enforcement for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks said. “This was a complex case and the partnership between us and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was critical in solving it.”
Schubarth faces up to five years in prison for each felony count, along with a fine up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11.
